Professional Individual and Couple Counsellling
We may not always know if we need therapy and that is ok. Many come because they sense there is a scratch on their “record of life”. Something keeps recurring and you want to get your groove back! Others may want to simply understand themselves. Therapy is an opportunity to enter a new kind of conversation. One that is structured, collaborative and where you are always in control.
My name is Michelle Martin and my journey to counselling really picked after I lost a dear friend who I knew, had battled bravely with mental health. For years I had put off this nagging urge to train in the field, but that personal loss, was the fire that lit the path to this private practise.
As part of ethical psychotherapy practise, I work with clinical supervision to ensure clients receive the best possible support. I work with individuals and couples with a range of approaches. I don’t put the “problem” at the centre of our encounter. The centre of my sessions is always you, my client.
People come for sessions on a range of issues. Here are some common ones.
No issue is too small and I can work with you wherever you are, in online sessions or in person.
Individual, Group and and Jungian Couple Therapy Sessions. Art, music and movement, may be incorporated in sessions.
Useful for fears phobia, bad habits and when you want to aim for new goals. Experienced clients have overcome"performance terror", taken hold of lifelong "procrastination" and more. Experience a technique that blends cognitive therapy, mindfulness and gentle tapping on meridien lines ( which TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine has mapped).
Michelle created and teaches the Straits Times Masterclass on Executive Presence. She has taught at the invitation of banks, wealth management firms, MNC's, data centre providers and senior level retreats.
I’m a career journalist, and I built my private psychotherapy practise in parallel with my media career. Perhaps you’ve heard me on-air as a news anchor or we may have met in one of my Straits Times Masterclasses. I have trained many groups from the world of banking to civil service psychologists and C-suite professionals. My classes focus on how our “presence” impacts our ability to connect, lead, and persuade. I teach a method to strengthen presence and influence.
Personally, I can’t imagine not using the tools which I use in sessions myself. These tools help me deal with the stressors of professional life (more on that in the short video excerpt below) they help me with my triggers and when speaking to big audiences on public stages.
As a professional therapist, I have trained in many different modalities. I think it is important to be versatile and have a wide toolbox of evidence-based therapies to meet people where they are.
I use a Jungian approach in couple therapy. In my sessions, couples in conflict meet for honest conversation to understand relationship dynamics and strengthen emotional bonds.
For trauma, anxiety, depression or phobias I may use any of the following.
Brainspotting is a powerful tool to process trauma using our neurophysiological systems.
Internal Family Systems opens a doorway to deeper communication with ourselves to help work with not against our inner critics, voices of shame, deep hopelessness or guilt. IFS can soothe and restore our being so our entire “system” can reach healthier goals.
EFT Tapping is emotional acupressure. Imagine acupuncture without needles to help your resolve cravings, bad habits or sense of overwhelm.
Any, and all these tools can help set us free from what holds us back in life. An initial conversation helps us both see if we are a good fit before we start therapy.
86 % of professionals globally have experienced being criticised, resented, disliked, cut down or otherwise penalised for being successful ( 2023, Women of Influence, The Tallest Poppy)
The names for this phenomenon vary across cultures.
In Japan: Deru kugi wa utareru (出る杭は打たれる) – “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”
In China: Qiang da chu tou niao (枪打出头鸟) – “The bird that sticks its head out gets shot.”
In the Philippines or wider Southeast Asia: “Crab Mentality” (isip talangka) – The tendency to pull successful people back down, like crabs in a bucket that pull the faster climber, back down.
In Singapore: “Sinkie pwn Sinkie” – Slang expression describing citizens undermining fellow peers
Who is most likely to cut down women for their success?
How does “cutting down” of a person, manifest at work?
Tall Poppy Syndrome is bias and all bias should be named and eliminated.
Watch an excerpt of Michelle speaking on a panel for International Women’s Day 2025
